The Potential Role of Endorhizal Bacteria Associated with Bletilla formosana Mycorrhiza During the Growth Stage

As mycorrhizal fungi are vital to the growth and survival of orchids, the ecological role of bacteria and their relationship with the orchid mycorrhiza remains poorly understood. The development of the pyrosequencing technique has shed light on the disentanglement of microbiome in the environment. The purpose of this chapter is to summarize the pyrosequencing technique combined with bioinformatics and statistics used to explore the community composition and diversity of endorhizal bacteria associated with indigenous terrestrial orchid mycorrhiza, Bletilla formosana in Taiwan. Furthermore, the results show the site effect on the endorhizal bacterial assemblages and their putative role. The guidelines for sampling and manipulating root samples for microbial studies are also provided.